On May 30, the House approved, 390-2, the Servicemember Family Protection Act (H.R. 4201). The Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved the legislation on April 27 (see The Source, 4/27/12).
According to the committee report, the measure would protect child custody arrangements made by servicemembers. Specifically, the bill would require that if a court renders to another party a temporary child custody order for the child of a servicemember due to the servicemember’s deployment, the court must reinstate the custody order that was in effect prior to the issuance of the temporary order upon the servicemember’s return, unless doing so would not be in the best interest of the child. Courts would not be allowed to consider the absence or potential absence of a servicemember as part of the court’s determination of the child’s best interest.
Courts would be required to abide by higher protections than those provided in H.R. 4201 if they exist under state law.
